rather than pick out individual stocks to trade, it can often be worthwhile to trade the indices themselves, especially in times of high volatility.

for those so inclined, i attach below charts for FTSE and FTSE 250, though one might equally be tempted to trade Dow or S&P, which is significantly broader in its coverage, or even NASDAQ

for ease of reading, i have attached 1 year and 3 month charts in each instance

FTSE only being called down 25. hmm. Not low enough for me to go long yet.

.

Having taken 21 pts on a FTSE long this morning I'm back in at 7188. This time I'm hoping we will get a proper rally once the politicians wake up and smell the coffee

DOW
impossible to trade in these conditions .... must surely be computer trading for it's flying around all over the place
i tried a little dabble early this afternoon and completely lost my bottle .... was glad to have got out at b/e, though could have subsequently done well - or lost a bit had i lost my nerve



DAX
looking very sickly indeed but not sure why, for it's not as if it has been rocketing north of late

Time for a rally? Added to my long FTSE position

Waiting for Theresa May I guess, although everything she's gong to say has probably already been leaked

whatever TM says will not affect the market(s)
the market(s) are beginning to feel bearish - ie good news is ignored and the bad causes a bad reaction - and DT's crap yesterday about imposing 25% steel tariffs will have far-reaching consequences if enacted

No one seems too worried....yet.... about Putin's assertion that he has an arsenal of ICBM's which can reach anywhere on the globe at speeds which render intercept missiles useless! I wonder if DT will rattle a few sabres in response?
I agree, sentiment is starting to change, which makes sense if interest rates start to rise and equities become less attractive.

on the other hand, interest rates rise when the economy is strong, so it's a matter of sentiment and perception

for the brave, it may be worth keeping an eye on DAX (and DOW), for even in bear markets, nothing goesdown in a straight line .... certainly DAX is close to a potential suppport at 12,900

Not looking too good again going into weekend.

On Friday, Trump escalated concerns about a full-blown trade fight by tweeting "trade wars are good, and easy to win."

so now you know why DOW is going to head heavily south once more

what can you do with this man?????
he really is a total liability

madman dt upsetting the market once again with his threats and promises of import tarriffs on steel and cars and, by the bye, making life difficult for britsh airways and virgin after brexit

I no longer know what to do! Making money on the index due to the swings but am starting to feel very nervous about holding positions.

Still long FTSE but have closed some from lower down for a profit. At the moment minded to close once I have a small profit on the rest rather than hold out for a big move up.

DOW - have opened a small short, but may well close that later

US Markets gapped lower.

Mr T advisor on his toes.

Hope you cleaned up Cynic.

I looked at my phone last night at around 12:30 and was shocked to see Dow smashed to pieces.

Took a FTSE long at 7079 which doesn't look so shabby right now.

it was fortunate that i did not close that short until about 07:30 this morning
at least that nice gain helps offset some of the pain from my volatile stock holdings


my view is that very sharp overnight fall on DOW is heavily overdone
if i have read it correctly, it is primarily because of cohn's protest resignation as dt's senior economic advisor

it remains to see whether or not these threatened, lunatic, penal trade tariffs will actually be enacted
i'm not sure whether one house or another can block them, for most sane legislators will be fully aware of the potentially severe consequences

I've close my long from the early hours for 55pts. Still got one from 7188 which I'll continue to run..

My perception is that the European markets are a bit fed up with the US volatility and are starting to find a base.